Working independently, Herndon experimented at the forefront of a now-canonical method—appropriation—by painting additions into found images from magazines such as Life and Sports Illustrated in a way that imbues the resulting works with mythical significance. Associated with the Beat movement, her work is integral to that part of the history of San Francisco. White Angel (1962), painted in the year of Marilyn Monroe’s death, portrays the actress in a process of devolution. Pictured upright in Vogue at the top-right of the frame, she sinks in stages to its lower left, increasingly engulfed by encroaching layers of paint and paper. Beneath fiery, scribbled, gestural marks and surrounded by foreboding, masked figures, her famous, partially obscured smile looks like a grimace.
Fran Herndon was born in Oklahoma in 1929, then moved to San Francisco in 1957, where she came into contact with Jack Spicer, who encouraged her painting practice by motivating her to study at the California School of Fine Arts (now the San Francisco Art Institute). They collaborated on a few important poetry works including Homage to Creeley Heads of the Town Up to the Aether and J magazine. In each instance, Herndon’s graceful, looping, lithographs are not mere illustrations of Spicer’s text, but enter into a mutually enriching dialogue with it.
UNHEARD: Hearing Singapore women composers loud and clear | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia ArtsEquator Viewpoints Jamie Chan March 3, 2022 By Nicole Toh (825 words, 3-minute read) “When do women get to be heard for who we are?” That was the question raised by Rachel Lim, a Singaporean soprano and UNHEARD ’s founder at the start of the concert...
Yu Honglei’s video and mixed media works riff on familiar motifs from the Western art historical canon and reimagine them through a playful but subversive culture jamming of their original meaning...
Burrito Bay is a video by George Kuchar that follows the format of a diary or travelogue centered on a tropical trip to Acapulco, Mexico...
For the last few years, Che Onejoon has been focusing on the relationships between African countries and North Korea...
“Relation between Black and blood” explores the connection between performance, installation and representation...
Renaissance nude row sparks teacher walkout at French school Skip to main content Renaissance nude row sparks teacher walkout at French school Teachers at a school outside Paris refused to work on Monday as the establishment grappled with a crisis sparked by the showing in class of a painting by a Renaissance master containing several nude women...
Weekly Southeast Asia Radar: New pandemic movements in SEA | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia ArtsEquator Radar October 15, 2020 ArtsEquator’s Southeast Asia Radar features articles and posts about arts and culture in Southeast Asia, drawn from local and regional websites and publications – aggregated content from outside sources, so we are exposed to a multitude of voices in the region...
Fauna is a figurative sculpture by Auriea Harvey that is characteristic of the artist’s practice—both serious and somewhat whimsical...
The Best Late-Night Crab and Garlic Noodles in San Bruno | KQED Skip to Nav Skip to Main Skip to Footer upper waypoint The Midnight Diners Some of the Bay Area’s Best Garlic Butter Crab Is Served in San Bruno After Midnight Luke Tsai Thien Pham Feb 8 Save Article Save Article Failed to save article Please try again Email The Dungeness crab and garlic noodles at San Bruno’s A-One Kitchen hold their own against any restaurant in the Bay — and they’re available until 1 a.m...